Commentary Blog

Today, I came across this fascinating article that described ballerina's brain activity while learning new routine. The conclusion of the experiment performed was that brain activity when learning a new dance takes an inverted U shape when graphed. This means brain activity started out low before beginning to learn the routine and as the routine is being taught to the dancer, his/her brain activity levels jump up during that process. At the end of the learning process, the dancer's brain activity levels go back down to where they were before the learned the dance. As a dancer, the conclusion of this experiment makes sense seeing as learning new dances not only requires ability to memorize the moves in your head, but also the muscle memory that is built to make your body recreate the sequence of steps and allow your brain to focus on your technique. It is incredible the process our minds go through in harmony with our body to be able to produce fluid movements in a certain order. The study also showed that at the end of the 34 weeks, the brain activity had decreased, but not as much as before they began learning the dance, so I wonder that if a dancer practices a dance enough and builds muscle memory, their brain activity will slowly decrease because they no longer have to think so much as to what move comes next. I believe that once we do not have to think of the routine itself while we dance, it means muscle memory has taken over, which is a beautiful feeling to have.

Huge Break Through of 2015

http://files.dancemedia.com/pointe/June14_copeland.jpg

It was a momentous occasion in the ballet community when Misty Copeland made history by being named the first African American Female Principal of the prestigious American Ballet Theater in 2015. Not only was this an amazing achievement for Misty as a minority in the ballet community, but this achievement was grand since Misty started dancing at the late age of 13 living in a shabby motel room. As a true prodigy, she was dancing en pointe after only three months of formal ballet training. Ballet is an expensive sport that requires time, money, and support from parents which were all things Misty lacked in her life. However, this did not stop her talent from shinning and allowing her to achieve such major success for both herself and other young aspiring ballerinas. Aside from overcoming personal obstacles, she broke through a glass ceiling for the rest of minority ballerinas by being the first female African American Principal dancer of ABT. Being of European roots, ballet is not as welcoming towards African Americans and Latinos as it would be for those with fair skin. Now that Misty Copeland has proven race and color should not affect any ballerinas position within a dance company, minority ballerinas will feel inspired and will feel that they are allowed to dream of being a principal dancer for a company rather than feeling as if the will never be able to achieve that due to their race or appearance. This break through is a success for the whole world of ballet, not just Misty Copeland.